Kids in Cambodia could use our help

You guys know that I took my 9yr old daughter, Annabelle, with me to Cambodia back in November where we volunteered with some English schools run by the Buddhist Library Cambodia Project (BLCP) and provided donations of clothes and school supplies to the poorest children. It was such a joy to be there and meet those children and teachers and to know that we made a tangible difference in their lives. I wrote a bit about it HERE.

Visiting rural schools with the mobile library

Before we left Cambodia, I asked what else we could do to help. Sare, who works for the BLCP told me that he thought buying school uniforms for the children attending one of the poorest schools would be very beneficial so I agreed to buy all 23 children a uniform.

When I got home to Australia, I asked if anyone might like to contribute $10 towards the cost of a uniform (they cost US$7.50 each). I expected perhaps a handful of friends to contribute $10 each. To my surprise, within a couple of days I had received donations totalling $475AUD. When I added my own donation, I sent Sare almost $700AUD. We agreed that he should use the extra money to buy books for the mobile library and purchase uniforms for other children in poor schools.

Sare, the mobile library van and the children with their new uniforms!

Sare and I then began discussing what I could do to help on an ongoing basis and we came up with two ideas.

Firstly, Sare said that he would like to continue buying uniforms for the poorest children – perhaps 10 children each month.

Secondly, I noticed during my visit that the mobile library has a tuk-tuk (pictured below) as well as a van but as Sare is the only staff member, he can only visit each school once per month.

His 2-3hr visit each month is the only time that many of these children (or teachers) EVER see books.

I asked him if I could pay for another staff member so that they could be out on the tuk-tuk while Sare is out in the van, enabling the library to reach more schools, or the same schools more frequently.

Mobile library on the back of a motorbike!

To do both, the monthly cost is:

US$75 to purchase 10 school uniforms

US$80 to pay the salary of a tuk-tuk driver to take the mobile library out for 2 days per week ($10 per day x 4 weeks)

US$20 for fuel for the tuk-tuk.

Total monthly donation – $175USD (currently converts to around $250AUD)

If you feel you could help out by paying for a uniform or contributing to the mobile library, feel free to contact me directly or if you want to jump right in, there’s a Paypal link below.

If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me. : ) I will post photos and updates as they come to hand!